Shocking figures reveal 2019 has been the worst for hospital overcrowding with a full month left to go

The alarming figure breaks 2018's previous record with a full month left to go in the year

It has already been the worst year for hospital overcrowding, and it's not even December.

According to figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, as of today, 108,364 people have gone without beds so far in 2019.

The shocking figure breaks 2018’s previous record high of 108,227, as the month of December approaches.

The worst hit hospital in 2019 so far is University Hospital Limerick (UHL) with 12,810 admitted patients left without a bed.

This was followed by Cork University Hospital (10,1360), University Hospital Galway (7,409), South Tipperary General Hospital (6,383) and University Hospital Waterford (5,875).

Just this week Ireland's worst ever overcrowding figures for a single day were recorded at UHL as 85 patients waited for beds.

Figures from the INMO trolley watch count patients who are admitted to hospitals but do not have a bed.

They are typically on trolleys in corridors or on chairs.

The INMO has said that extra staffing and an increase in hospital, homecare, and community capacity is needed to tackle the issue of overcrowding.

INMO General Secretary, Phil Ní Sheaghdha, slammed the "wildly bureaucratic health service" which she says is "failing staff and patients alike".

She said: "Winter has only just begun and the record is already broken"

“We take no pleasure in having to record these figures for a decade and a half. We know the problem, but we also know the solutions: extra beds in hospitals, safe staffing levels, and more step-down and community care outside of the hospital.

“Five years ago, hospitals like Beaumont consistently faced the most extreme overcrowding problems in the country. They reduced that problem by adding beds and growing community care. Other services can do the same and must be allowed to do so.

“No other developed country faces anything close to this trolley problem. It can be solved, but a strong political agenda to drive change is needed.

“The INMO has written to the health and safety authorities this week to try force a change from the employers. Hospitals should be a place of safety and care – not danger.

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